Pilkington Optitherm SN Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T Handling and Processing Guidelines.

Transcription

1 Pilkington Optitherm SN Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T Handling and Processing Guidelines.

2 Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T 1. Product description 2. Product range SN Pro T are off-line coated, neutral-coloured, low emissivity products that provide high thermal insulation when used as a component glass in insulating glass units. Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T must be thermally toughened prior to insulating glass unit fabrication to achieve its low emissivity performance and final appearance. General Pilkington Optitherm SN is available on Pilkington Optifloat Clear, Pilkington Optilam and Pilkington Optifloat Clear T. Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T is available on Pilkington Optifloat Clear. For availability on Pilkington Optiwhite please contact our customer service representatives. Float Pilkington Optitherm SN on Pilkington Optifloat Clear is available in jumbo and split sizes, and in thicknesses from 4mm up to 10mm. Additionally, 12mm may be available, but by special request only. Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T on Pilkington Optifloat is available, but in jumbo and split sizes, in thicknesses of 4mm and 6mm. Additionally 8mm may be available by special request only. Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T jumbo and split sizes are only available in batches of 2.5 tonnes and /or 5 tonnes. Laminated SN Pro T can only be used in insulating glass units. The coating for Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T should normally be glazed to glass surface 3 (counting from the outside). As these coatings can be easily damaged if not handled correctly it is important that handling and processing is carried out strictly in accordance with good practice, as described throughout these guidelines. Pilkington Optitherm SN on Pilkington Optilam is available in jumbo and split sizes in nominal thicknesses from 6mm up to 10mm. Additionally, nominal thickness of 12mm may be available by special request only. Jumbo and split sizes are only available in batches of 2.5 tonnes and /or 5 tonnes. Toughened In addition, toughened cut size pieces of Pilkington Optitherm SN on Pilkington Optifloat Clear T are available to special order.

3 3. Delivery and storage General SN Pro T are arranged on stillages in such a way that ensures the coated surface of each sheet faces inwards. In every case, the innermost or back sheet of the pack is 4mm Pilkington Optifloat, which serves to protect the coated sheets. For coated laminated glass, the back sheet in the pack is an uncoated Pilkington Optilam of nominal 6mm thickness. Packs of jumbo and split sizes should be used within nine months of the date of manufacture. However, once opened a pack of Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T must be used as soon as possible, ideally within seven days. Storage times in excess of the seven days can be achieved if favourable storage conditions are maintained. Individual glass processors should determine the acceptable conditions for their specific storage area. Any loose off-cuts should be used immediately. All sheets are separated with an interleavant powder. As with Pilkington Optifloat, Pilkington Optitherm SN, and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T must be unloaded and stored in dry and well-ventilated conditions, stacked upright and fully supported in a safe manner. It should be stood on edge strips of wood, felt or other relatively soft material. As a general guide, it is recommended that packs are stored such that a relative humidity of 70% is not exceeded, nor the room temperature allowed to fall below 15 C. Pilkington Optitherm SN packs of jumbo and split sizes are supplied without edge taping and should be used within nine months of the date of manufacture. All loose off-cuts should be used immediately. During cold weather, before opening a sealed pack of Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T, time should be allowed for the temperature of the pack to acclimatise to ambient. This will help to avoid condensation and potential damage to the sheets. If condensation does appear on the coated side, the affected sheet must be washed and dried immediately. Failure to do this can cause a reaction to the coating that in turn can detract from its finished quality. Toughened cut-sizes Storage of delivered cut-size sheets of Pilkington Optitherm SN on Pilkington Optifloat Clear T should not exceed three weeks. These products will be supplied wrapped in a protective sealed plastic sheet with desiccated bags inside. Do not remove the protective wrapping until immediately before the sheets are to be used. Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T this product is supplied with the edges taped. This tape should not be removed until immediately before the sheets are to be used. It is often not practical to reseal the edge-taping around an opened pack of Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T but it may be advisable to do so wherever possible.

4 4. Handling When handling Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T the following points should be noted. As the coated surface can easily be damaged, precautions are necessary when unloading glass packs to ensure that sheets in the pack do not move. 5. Cutting Where possible, individual sheets should be moved using automatic equipment capable of lifting plates using suction cups or equivalent on the glass (non-coated) side only. Glass must never be moved by any mechanical method that involves contact with the coated surface. When physically handling the glass, clean PU Cut-Resistant glass handling gloves must be worn at all times to avoid leaving fingerprints. Wherever possible, the sheets should be handled at the edges where the coating has been or will be stripped. If marks are present on the coating after handling, no attempt should be made to physically remove them (other than washing) as coating damage may occur. Sheets of Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T must be loaded onto the cutting table with the coated surface uppermost and must be cut in this position only. The preferred method for cutting is by automated equipment, using a quick evaporating cutting oil lubricant. If manual cutting is used then great care must be taken with straight edges, metal tape measures, cutting bars or cutting sticks when placing on to the coated surface, as some marking or scratching is likely to occur. For scoring the glass prior to break out, a cutting lubricant with a fast evaporation rate should be used. When breaking out glass sheets, top surface positioning or snapping wheels should not come in contact with the coating. When unloading or transporting individual cut size sheets or off-cuts, cork pads or clean, non-alkaline paper interleavant should be used to prevent damage to the coating. As with handling, operators must wear clean glass handling gloves so that they do not leave prints on the coated surface. Gloves must be inspected before use and changed at regular intervals. Aprons must be worn to protect the coated surface from contact with attachments on clothing such as belt buckles, zips or metal studs. Care should also be taken to ensure that glass does not come into contact with watch straps or other jewellery. Any contact with hard materials is likely to result in damage to the coated surface. When unloading or transporting individual cut size sheets or off-cuts, cork pads or clean, non-alkaline paper interleavant should be used to prevent damage to the coating. This may not be necessary immediately after cutting, since the original interleavant often remains largely in place. No attempt should be made to remove any marks or scratches from the coated surface as this will damage the coating.

5 6. Thermal toughening Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T must be toughened in order to achieve the required low emissivity and colour properties and must always be toughened with the coated surface facing upwards. Any furnace capable of uniformly heating low emissivity glass should be suitable for toughening Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T. The higher reflectance of the coated glass surface (facing uppermost) may require adjustment of the top and bottom furnace temperatures and/or cycle times. These parameters may vary from furnace to furnace. Very high temperatures should be avoided as they may have a detrimental effect on the coating. Where required, dry or non-contact methods of applying safety or trade marks must be used. 7. Edge stripping or edge deletion At pre and initial rinse, de-ionised heated water should be used. The specific conductivity of this de-ionised water should not exceed 30 μs/cm. It is also recommended that final rinse should be with de-ionised water, the specific conductivity of which should not exceed 15 μs/cm. However, the glass processor should determine an acceptable level for his specific process. Prior to manufacturing Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T sheets into insulating glass units, the coating must be edge stripped to ensure good adhesion of the unit seal. The edge stripping process can be undertaken on-line (when cutting) or off-line (post-cutting and toughening). The edge width over which the coating should be stripped depends on the insulating glass unit design. 8. Washing SN Pro T should be washed using vertical or horizontal multi stage washing apparatus equipped with soft brush rollers, with a brush fibre diameter no greater than 0.15mm. As water quality is also critical for the washing of all types of coated glass, demineralised water is considered essential, suitably heated. Detergent additives must not be used. It is also essential to ensure that water quality is maintained to prescribed levels at all process stages (see below), and that washing apparatus is operated and maintained in accordance with manufacturer s recommendations. Washing apparatus (both vertical and horizontal) may require adjustment for avoidance of coating damage, with special attention to flaps, brushes and rollers (drive and guide); especially those which may be in direct contact with the coated surface. The glass should be passed through the washing machine so that the coated surface is outermost (or uppermost in horizontal equipment), and not against any contact surface (i.e. rollers). The washing machine process should ensure that control systems make provision for avoidance of stoppage under washing brushes, otherwise coating damage will occur. After washing, the glass should be air-dried and immediately processed into insulating glass units. If the glass needs to be moved on stillages to the insulating glass unit line, the glass should be appropriately racked and separated with cork pads. If marks are present on the coating after washing, no attempt should be made to remove them as coating damage will occur.

6 9. Heat soaking Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T can be heat soaked in either gas or electric powered ovens without detriment to the coating. However, electric ovens are generally preferred because there are no potentially corrosive combustion gases. Both types of heat soak oven should be operated such that water vapour condensation does not occur inside the oven. Care should be taken to minimise the length of time between toughening and heat soaking so as to reduce the likelihood of damage to the coating. 10. Appearance It is the responsibility of the processor to carefully inspect Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T both before and after processing. Glass not rejected by the processor during inspection and prior to processing will be considered by Pilkington as accepted. SN Pro T are classified as Class C coated glass in accordance with EN 1096 Glass in building Coated glass. 11. Insulating glass units All processing operations, from cutting through toughening to insulating glass unit assembly should ideally be completed in the same day. However, with care and attention, it is possible to pack and transport toughened Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T. This is particularly advantageous when, for example, toughening and insulating glass unit manufacture are not in the same location. Once the sheets have sufficiently cooled after toughening they should be separated by a special paper, with each pane of the IGU matched with its partner. The whole pack, once paper interleaved, should be wrapped in a thick plastic sheet for protection. An appropriate amount of fresh desiccant bags should be arranged within the plastic wrapping sheet which should be then made airtight with adhesive tape. The wrapped and desiccated pack must then be appropriately secured before transportation. Once Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T has been correctly wrapped and desiccated, the coating can remain stable for up to seven days. Once opened, however, the coated glass pack must be processed into insulating glass units on the day of opening. The coated surface of Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T should always face the cavity of an insulating glass unit and normally be glazed to glass surface 3 (counting from the outside), in order to maximise passive solar gain in winter and also to ensure uniform external appearance of units glazed adjacent to one another. We do not recommend that Optitherm SN and Optitherm SN Pro T are mixed within the same façade. However, the U value of similarly constructed insulating glass units, each incorporating one pane of Pilkington Optitherm SN, or Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T, is the same regardless of whether the coated glass is positioned as the inner or outer pane. For example, Pilkington Optitherm SN or Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T may be incorporated as the outer pane of an insulating glass unit, whilst incorporating Pilkington Texture Glass as the inner pane, without detriment to the thermal insulation properties of the unit. Any discernible difference in external appearance which may otherwise occur as a result of incorporating Pilkington Optitherm SN or Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T glazed as the outer pane will tend to be nullified as a consequence of the Pilkington Texture Glass inner pane. To achieve better thermal insulation, the cavity in the insulating glass units can be filled with argon, krypton or a mixture of these gases. Gas filling has no detrimental effect on the coating. Suitable sealants and drying agents should be used in accordance with the general recommendations for the gas used in each case. As the coating has been edge stripped, the adhesion of most sealants, including hot melt butyls, polysulfides, urethanes and two part silicones will be as expected for clear glass.

7 12. Transportation & storage of insulating glass units Use appropriately designed racks for the safe transportation of insulating glass units manufactured using Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T. The units should be separated by cork pads or similar separation materials to prevent transport damage. They must not be stored in direct sunlight. If stored outside, the stack of insulating glass units should always be covered with an appropriate opaque wrap to prevent breakage of glass due to overheating. Great care must be taken to avoid damage to the glass edges during transportation, storage and installation. 13. Repeat orders, colour deviation Production tolerances can cause slight colour deviations between different batches. These are minimal within a production run. For projects where the coated glass has to be supplied over a longer period, this should be indicated to the manufacturer to ensure that colour deviation is minimised. 14. Glazing Insulating glass units incorporating Pilkington Optitherm SN and Pilkington Optitherm SN Pro T should be glazed in accordance with National Standards or Codes of Practice. Pilkington Optitherm, Pilkington Optifloat, Pilkington Optilam Pilkington Optiwhite, and Pilkington Texture Glass are all trademarks of the Pilkington Group.

8 This publication, whilst giving a general description of the product and materials, is issued as a guide only. Circumstances applicable to products and materials may vary and Pilkington gives no warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the publication or as to compliance with it by the products and materials except to the extent expressly confirmed by Pilkington in any contract for their sale. It is the responsibility of the user of this documentation to ensure that the use of the product and materials is appropriate for any particular application and that such application complies with all relevant local and national legislation, standards, codes of practice and other requirements. Pilkington plc hereby disclaim all liability howsoever arising from any error in or omission from this publication and for all consequences of relying on it. CE marking confirms that a product complies with its relevant harmonised European Norm. The CE marking label for each product, including declared values, can be found at Building Products - UK Prescot Road St Helens WA10 3TT United Kingdom Telephone Fax pilkington@respond.uk.com April 2006